Black Students and Private Schooling. ERIC/CUE Trends and
Issues Series, Number 4.

Like their white counterparts, black parents are increasingly sending
their children to private schools in the belief that they offer a sounder
education and better career development training than do public schools.
Nationally, about 5 percent of all black families have children in private
schools (U.S. 1980 Census), slightly less than half the proportion of white
families with privately educated children. In the inner cities about 7 percent
of all black students attend private schools, while white private school
enrollment can be as high as 20 percent.

There is now black representation in nearly all types of private schools,
from parochial to alternative to elite college preparatory. There are also
"independent neighborhood schools," established and run by minorities.
Frequently their curriculum has a religious or cultural focus, such as
Fundamentalist Baptist or Pan Africanism, and thus the schools serve a
like-minded community.

Among the integrated private schools, Catholic schools have the highest
percentage of minority students, with an enrollment of 18 percent nationally,
and just under 28 percent in inner city schools. Although more than half the
families of black students in Catholic schools are not Catholic (Cibulka, et
al., 1982; NCEA 1986), the schools offer the convenience of neighborhood
location and a reputation for quality teaching and good discipline. Moreover,
the tuition for these schools is significantly below that of other private
schools.

In fact, 4 percent of black families living in poverty have children in
private schools, only one percentage point less than the overall black family
average, and the private schools these children attend are frequently Catholic.
However, minority students receive a third less financial aid than they need
(NAIS, 1984), though they receive it at a slightly higher rate than whites, and
the amount has been decreasing over the last decade.

Black families opt for private schooling in general because they want their
children to have a very directed learning experience in an integrated
environment. They want their children to be well prepared for higher education
and a career, and to be provided with the skills for upward mobility in a
predominately white society (Slaughter & Schneider, 1986).

Families who choose a black independent school may also seek racial identity,
black teacher role models, and a strengthening of the black community.

Several major studies over the last five years have shown that the
standardized achievement test scores are higher than those of black public
school students (Coleman, et al., 1980; Greeley, 1982; Cibulka, et al., 1982).
These findings, however, do not take into account the fact that black private
and public school students are not exactly comparable in socioeconomic status or
educational motivation. Another factor affecting comparisons between black
public and private school students is the better educational background of the
families of the latter; a generally accepted principle is that the higher the
education level of their parents, the higher the school achievement of the
children.

The benefits of private school are also less clear when private and public
school students are compared within tracks. Such a comparison reveals less
difference in test scores (Alexander, 1985). On the other hand, poor black
students in private schools are less likely to be assigned a vocational track
than are their public school counterparts.

A four-school study of black student achievement in private schools
demonstrated that the reading comprehension scores of black students increased
as their families' income level increased (Slaughter & Schneider, 1986).
This correlation did not hold for white students. Thus, while private schools
were able to erase the effects of social class for white students, they could
not do so for blacks.

The quality of education black students receive, and the facilities available
to them, vary with the private school they attend. Well-endowed college
preparatory schools tend to have enriched curricula, excellent libraries, good
sports programs and equipment. Inner city Catholic schools, conversely, suffer
from underfinancing; their classes are larger, sports facilities more limited,
and buildings less well-kept. At the same time, these schools do have facilities
associated with vocational programs: remedial reading and math labs, wood and
office equipment shops, cooking labs, and typing labs.

Nevertheless, the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA, 1986)
found that the vast majority of students at these inner city schools, race and
class notwithstanding, were in a college preparatory track; only 7 percent were
vocational students. Nor was there evidence of tracking poor and minority
students into vocational programs, as happens in public schools.

According to the NCEA report, a majority of students at inner city Catholic
schools met National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983) standards for
graduation in English (4 years), mathematics (3 years), science (3 years), and
foreign language (3 years). They did not meet the 3-year social studies
requirement.

While a larger percentage of black students enriches a private school
culturally, it is frequently accompanied by larger class sizes and higher
pupil-teacher ratios. Further, the level of teacher training and experience, and
materials available, appear to decrease as the number of black students
increase.

In addition to wanting their children to have an enriched learning
experience, black parents also choose private schools for their desegregated
environment. Although black students in private schools have a far better chance
of learning in a desegregated environment in general, in inner city private
schools, the proportion of blacks to whites is rapidly increasing. A study of 99
private elementary schools in Chicago, for example, found that in 1970 17
percent were largely black, while in 1981 the proportion had grown to 35 percent
(Slaughter and Schneider, 1985).

In general, the racial identity of black students who attend predominantly
white private schools is not reinforced. The study of four Chicago schools,
mentioned above, found an attitude of "color-blindness" in all but the Catholic
school (Slaughter & Schneider, 1986). Thus, while there were few overt acts
of discrimination, neither were there attempts to educate about the heritages or
the responsibilities of children as members of middle income black families.

The result of such color-blind curricula is that some black students may
believe that blacks are not appropriate persons to hold leadership positions or
make cultural contributions through the arts and sciences.

The Catholic school in the Chicago study, on the other hand, stressed
cultural identity -- even over religious identity -- thus giving black students
racial pride and cultural awareness.

There are, to be sure, benefits to be gained by black students attending
private school, although the kind and degree varies with the school.

U.S. Census 1980. SCHOOL ENROLLMENT FOR RELATED CHILDREN 3 TO 17 YEARS OLD BY
TYPE OF SCHOOL, AGE, FAMILY INCOME IN 1979, POVERTY STATUS IN 1979, RACE AND
SPANISH ORIGIN, 1980. (Table 261, PC 80-1-DI-A). Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office, l980.

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